FF #8

Jonathan Hickman's ambitious FF continues with issue #8, and Daniel Acuña's cover sets an appropriately tense tone — a striking assembly of figures advances from the shadows, led by a tech-armored man with glowing blue repulsor tech and a cloaked, gauntleted figure unmistakably recognizable as Doctor Doom, energy crackling at his fingertips. Behind them stand several more enigmatic figures, including a horned-helmeted character and figures in yellow uniforms, suggesting a coalition of considerable and complicated power. With Steve Epting and Paul Mounts handling interior art and "Ascension" as the story's title, this 2011 Marvel issue promises the kind of grand, slow-burn intrigue that defined Hickman's run on the Future Foundation.